HCHS girls reclaim conference crown
GLENWOOD (Oct. 14) -- On September 25, Harlan Community freshman Lindsey Sonderman broke senior Kaia Bieker’s five-kilometer school record by 10 seconds, winning the Cyclone Invite with a time of 19:21.
That record is now obsolete.
Thriving in ideal running conditions, Sonderman and Bieker both broke the 5K school mark during Thursday’s Hawkeye Ten Cross Country Meet at Glenwood Lake Park, placing first and second to lead the Cyclone girls to their third conference title in four years.
The HCHS boys finished ninth out of 11 teams, paced by senior Tyler Shelton in 17th place.
Sonderman, ranked second in Class 3A by the IATC, recorded a winning time of 18:57.15 in her first H-10 meet to earn her sixth individual meet title of the year.
Sonderman, 11th-ranked Bieker and No. 15 Ava Rush of Atlantic ran together for the first one-third of the race - give or take - before Sonderman steadily pulled away to win by 14 seconds. Bieker placed second with a personal-best of 19:11 and Rush (19:27) was third.
Taylor Bieker (14th), Ellie Gross (15th) and Kayla Anderson (23rd) also had their places scored as the sixth-ranked Cyclone girls edged No. 15 Glenwood by four points (55-59) to win back the team title from the Rams. Clarinda (84) placed third and Atlantic (103) was fourth.
“It means a lot. We work really hard as a team, so it’s just great to finally get our goal,” Sonderman said. “The [cool] temperature really helped, and honestly just having a teammate behind me to push me, that really helped.”
Kaia Bieker, a four-year varsity standout for the Cyclones, said it “means the world” to her to regain the H-10 team title. Bieker and Gross are the squad’s only varsity seniors and the lone returning harriers from last year’s seventh place state meet finisher.
“With all these new girls I’ve been so fortunate to know and run with - Lindsey and the rest of the pack - it’s just been so cool going from last season with all the talented girls to this season, and we really just raised the bar. It’s made me so proud,” Bieker said.
The Cyclone boys, who have been plagued by injuries during the second half of the season, started their full varsity lineup Thursday but only had six finishers. Tyler Shelton earned a 17th-place medal in 17:37, Kaiden Milliken finished 27th and Joseph Bragg was 44th.
Glenwood won the boys team title with a score of 52, followed by Lewis Central (71) and Kuemper Catholic (111). HCHS scored a 213 for ninth.
Full story in Oct. 19 Harlan Tribune
Hawkeye Ten Conf. Cross Country Meet • Oct. 14 • Glenwood Lake Park
Girls Team Standings - 1. Harlan Community 55, 2. Glenwood 59, 3. Clarinda 84, 4. Atlantic 103, 5. CB St. Albert 140, 6. Creston 172, 7. Denison-Schleswig 208, 8. Kuemper Catholic 210, 9. Lewis Central 221, 10. Shenandoah 239, 11. Red Oak 268.
Top 5 Individual Girls - 1. Lindsey Sonderman (HCHS), 18:57; 2. Kaia Bieker (HCHS), 19:11; 3. Ava Rush (Atlantic), 19:27; 4. Lola Mendlik (D-S), 19:42; 5. Mayson Hartley (Clarinda), 19:49.
HCHS Individual Results - 1st: Lindsey Sonderman, 18:57.15; 2nd: Kaia Bieker, 19:11.75; 14th: Taylor Bieker, 20:35.07; 15th: Ellie Gross, 20:39.71; 23rd: Kayla Anderson, 21:10.95; 27th: Jenna Gessert, 21:34.30; 30th: Emily Schechinger, 22:07.84. (5-kilometer times; 73 runners)
Boys Team Standings - 1. Glenwood 52, 2. Lewis Central 71, 3. Kuemper Catholic 111, 4. CB St. Albert 134, 5. Clarinda 145, 6. Shenandoah 152, 7. Atlantic 170, 8. Denison-Schleswig 182, 9. Harlan Community 213, 10. Red Oak 235, 11. Creston 237.
Top 5 Individual Boys - 1. Ethan Eichhorn (LC), 15:53; 2. Bryant Keller (Glenwood), 16:20; 3. Michael Pottebaum (Kuemper), 16:31; 4. Colin Lillie (St. Albert), 16:33; 5. Baylor Bergren (Red Oak), 16:37.
HCHS Individual Results - 17th: Tyler Shelton, 17:37.28; 27th: Kaiden Milliken, 18:02.15; 44th: Joseph Bragg, 18:47.51; 62nd: Jonathan Shelton, 19:51.21; 63rd: Keaton Heileson, 19:56.20; 67th: Seth Anderson, 20:12.01; DNF: Ian Shelton. (5-kilometer times; 75 runners)